Another View: Iraq’s slow, smart strategy pays off in retaking of Ramadi

The retaking of Ramadi by Iraqi security forces this past weekend was a blow to Islamic State. It’s less clear that it amounts to a major victory for the government in Baghdad, but it at least shows that its U.S.-backed strategy for recapturing territory in Sunni-dominated parts of the country is sound.

The Iraqi government said the army and police retook the city’s administrative center without the aid of Iranian-backed Shiite militias – the fighters who were mainly involved in the recent recapture of Tikrit and the Baiji oil refinery. Those troops have been accused of carrying out vengeance killings of Sunnis in the aftermath of battle, and the government was wise to keep them out of Ramadi, the capital of heavily Sunni Anbar province.

The Iraqis were also smart to move gradually against Ramadi. The two months it took to carry out the offensive allowed time for U.S.-led airstrikes to soften Islamic State targets and for many civilians to escape to safety. Unfortunately, it also gave Islamic State forces plenty of time to rig the city with explosives and set up snipers’ nests, and it may now take weeks to clean out the last pockets of resistance.

Iraq’s future depends on building a truly competent military that is representative of the nation’s ethnic and religious mix, and on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi fulfilling his pledge to protect the nation’s Sunni minority. Otherwise, the next rebellion will always be just around the corner.

Here at MaineToday Media we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion.

To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use. Click here to flag and report a comment that violates our terms of use.

gadfly371

You couldn’t find a better example of liberal bias in the PPH. Go to Bloomgberg News for an analysis of US policy in Iraq. Sure! Our policy is sound. What a joke. Sadly, some fools will agree.

Richard Joyce

You mean the fools who supported destabilizing this region with the Bush invasion? Of course, you weren’t one of those, were you?

gadfly371

Nope. I was in the invasion. How about you, leftie? What were you doing?

jbs01

Whether he is right or left really isn’t the point.

The fact is that any course of action is Iraq will not be as catastrophic to US interests as the decision to invade and then the completely FUBAR occupation / reconstruction.

Ask yourself, where was the Sunni base for ISIS in Iraq created? It was Bremer’s decision to disband the Iraqi army and the dispossess the Baathists. May have been right morally but has been a geopolitical disaster ever since.

MakeAmericaWhiteAgain

This explains a lot.

elvisisdead

This opinion is 100% based in reality. The Republicans give us nothing but “blame Obama(Which fixes nothing) and empty headed jingoism.
The fight to defeat ISIS is not an over night thing. Instant gratification is for children.

Thank you for publishing this reasonable view of the situation in Iraq. Looking to conservative talking heads like Krauthammer for strategy in the region is like going to the Washington Generals for advice on coaching your basketball team. These are the same people who told us Iraq could be the Switzerland of the Middle East once we got rid of that evil Saddam. And that we’d be welcomed as liberators and showered with roses.Yes, we were showered alright, with I.E.D.s.